Mark Johnston last year became Britain's winningmost trainer when sending out his 4,194th winner, and the North Yorkshire-based horseman clinched another record on Monday when sending out his 236th winner of the season-the most winners ever trained by one person in a calendar year in Britain. Johnston accomplish the feat with the 2-year-old colt Bavardages (Ire) (Dream Ahead) in a Kempton handicap.
The previous record of 235 was shared by Richard Hannon Sr., set in 2013, and Richard Fahey, who equalled that mark two years later.
“We knew it would come some time,” Johnston said. “I wasn't going chasing any records, the horses were only going to run if it was right for them and it would happen eventually.
“He disappointed a bit on his first three runs, one of which was a sales races which we put him in because he was qualified to run. He's a nice, big, scopey horse and hopefully he can go on from here–he got the job done.”
Johnston's previous personal best in a season was 226 winners. This year, in July alone, he sent out 50 winners from 215 runners, good for a strike rate of 23%.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
